Research Interests

Daniel Allen uses clinical and cognitive neuropsychological approaches to study people with psychiatric and neurological disorders. His aim is to understand better how the brain supports complex cognitive activities such as memory, attention, and problem solving. His recent work has focused on understanding the considerable heterogeneity in neurocognitive function exhibited by those with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder by examining such factors as comorbid substance use disorders, endophenotype expression, negative symptoms, trauma, and premorbid adjustment. He has also examined abnormalities in social cognition and emotion processing as core features of these disorders, and has developed a number of new methods to examine cognitive components of the emotion processing system. More recently, he has begun work using digital phenotyping approaches to better understand the course of recovery and relapse in individuals with early severe mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and those at clinical high risk for psychosis. He directs two coordinated specialty care programs designed to provide comprehensive clinical services to these individuals.

Dr. Allen is past president of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 40), National Academy of Neuropsychology, and Western Psychological Association. He is the director of the Neuropsychology Research Program at UNLV and former Director of Clinical Training. He received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of South Dakota in 1993.